Tottenham Hotspur’s possible starting XI: James Maddison and Harry Kane

Although Antonio Conte was one of the best managers of his era, the impulsive and demanding manager was never quite what Tottenham needed. On paper, Postkoglu is a perfect fit for the project Tottenham want.

Tottenham have already made two signings of Empoli goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and Leicester City star James Maddison. spend £40 million Secure the latter signature to escalate talented but inconsistent attacks.

Maddison’s latest signing is perhaps the most interesting as he has scored a career-best 10 goals and 9 goals in 2022/23 despite being one of the worst teams in the Premier League. assists.

So how does he fit into the team philosophy of Tottenham Hotspur and Postkoglu? Let’s take a look at the likely starting XI, which includes Maddison and Harry Kane. Although the latter is the subject of numerous transfer interests, including from Bayern Munich, Spurs do not appear to be interested in selling the superstar striker.

defense

Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario

LB Destiny Udoji

CB New Signing

CB Christian Romero

RB Pedro Polo

Tottenham signed Vicario from Empoli for just €19m as he established himself as one of Serie A’s best goalkeepers over the past two seasons. His reflexes and consistency surpass that of Hugo Lloris, whose best days are clearly behind him.

Tottenham have also added two defenders in the latest transfer window. In fact, Destiny Udogi joined last summer, but was sent back to Udinese on loan for a season. It has served him well, as Udogi has progressed further for Frulani in Serie A in 2022/23, averaging 3.3 dribbles and fouls per game and a total of 3.3 tackles and interceptions per game.

Another potential signing for the Italian top flight, Udogi is only 20 years old and has what it takes to dominate the left wing in north London for a decade. Tottenham signed this fantastic player early on.

The same goes for new right-back Pedro Polo, who joined last winter and made an immediate impact as a right-sided midfielder in Conte’s plans. Polo is Sporting’s best young right-back in the world and he could have played for a club like Real Madrid, so it’s a major endorsement for Spurs to be able to sign such a strong and affordable signing. Poirot’s first full season at Tottenham should look even better.

As for the central defender position, this situation is even more difficult to solve. Cristian Romero has the quality to be an excellent starter in a back four, but with him playing so aggressively, Spurs will have to be careful about signing players around him. Indeed, they need two centre-backs, as they also need a high-quality backup in case something happens to Romero or another new arrival.

No one on the current team deserves to be listed as a starter next to Romero. Tottenham need to sign one of the best options available, such as Bayer Leverkusen’s Edmund Tapsoba.

midfielder

CM Yves Bisuma

CM Rodrigo Bentancur

AM James Madison

Let’s now discuss the midfield in detail, as this is where key new addition James Maddison comes into play. There are a couple of good midfielders who will get minutes in the attacking midfield behind Maddison, as the former Leicester City man needs to be closer to the forwards so he can really impact the game in the final third.

However, the best midfield duo after Maddison should be the box-to-box duo of Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bizuma. Bentancur is sidelined with a serious injury, but when he returns he should be one of the best midfielders in the Premier League. Bisuma is also equipped to compete at the highest level.

Maddison could rotate in an attacking midfield role with Richarlison or even Dejan Kulusevski, but there’s a reason why Postkoglu recommended him to sign for £40m. No matter how you look at it, the 26-year-old is “the one”. His technical quality, eye for goals and eye for deadly passes is exactly what the likes of Son Heung-min and Harry Kane need to further improve their attacking game.

Take Kane as an example, he scored 30 goals last season, but only 3 assists, although he averaged 1.5 key passes per game, which is a world-class average for a No. 9 player, especially For a striker who scored 30 goals. Having a player like Maddison who can score in double figures a season will help Kane’s creativity bring goals to Tottenham.

The best thing was that Tottenham were able to get Maddison into shooting position in the left half and exploit his roaming creativity. Give him the freedom to score goals and use Udoji heavily in overlapping positions so the trio of Son Heung-Min, Maddison and Udoji can combine to create shots.

forward

Sun Xingmin LW

ST Harry Kane

RW Dejan Kulusevski

There isn’t much need to go into detail about the front line, as this trio is largely established and should Tottenham be able to keep Harry Kane, they should be one of the best in European football.

Dejan Kurusovski hasn’t quite put it all together yet, but he’s clearly capable of starting every game on the right wing as one of the best left-footed wingers in the game today. Son Heung-min didn’t have his best 2022/23 season, but he showed signs of turning things around towards the end of the season. He is undoubtedly one of the most talented footballers in the world and should be backed to have a better season with a refreshed team (and possibly better management).

Finally, there’s Titanic Kane. Due to his all-round performances and sheer importance to Tottenham, he was arguably the best player in the Premier League last season, rather than Manchester City striker Erling Haaland. Maddison’s consistency and final product could be an added threat to ease the enormous pressure on Kane’s shoulders.